I'm trying to find information on how to get the most cooking out of my WFO. It seems from what I've read in my searches that there is a huge hole between pizza temperatures (900ºF) and the next temp which seems to be 500ºF. Does anyone know of a thread or document that explores what things can be cooked at every temperature range?

Craig

Tscarborough

01-16-2012 12:57 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

None that I know of, but as it usually works, that 9 to 500 degree hole is generally from pizza night to hungover morning, so it would be wasted anyway. I generally do pizza>bread>meat>vegetable.

clofgreen

01-16-2012 03:37 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tscarborough
(Post 125796)

That 9 to 500 degree hole is generally from pizza night to hungover morning, so it would be wasted anyway.

:D Now that's funny.

texassourdough

01-16-2012 07:00 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

IMO there is no hole/gap. I cook/bake in my oven from pizza temp down.

Citing of 900 is interesting. That is, in my experience a rather troubling temperature to bake at. 800 is far more standard reference for hearth temp for pizza and many prefer 725 to 750. Baking bread in a WFO typically begins with oven prep at the 575 to 600 degree range. Loading bread is usually targeted for around 540 to 565 in my experience. Thus the gap is much smaller than the 400 degrees you implied.

And there are plenty of thing one can cook in the window from 600 to 750 or 800. Think of things that cook fast or are already cooked and that you want to warm and char. Things like
- cooked eggplant, EVOO, herbs de provence, capers
- shrimp, EVOO, pepper flakes.
- olives with the pits in EVOO
- sausages with ???
etc.

Les

01-16-2012 07:31 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

There are quite a few books on using your WFO. What would be cool is one that is organized by temp, not the food. You may be on to something Craig - you just need to compile it for the rest of us. ;)

Lburou

01-16-2012 08:21 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Les
(Post 125808)

There are quite a few books on using your WFO. What would be cool is one that is organized by temp, not the food. You may be on to something Craig - you just need to compile it for the rest of us. ;)

There is a book that talks a lot about building and managing the fire, cooking utensils, and then, before giving several recipes for each cooking environment, discusses cooking ranges for:

Pizza oven environment (650-750 F),

Roasting oven environment (550 F with flame),

Bake oven environment (350-450 F),

Grilling oven environment (live coals),

Bread oven environment (450-550 F).

The book is _The Art of Wood Fired Cooking_ by A. M. The author nimbly explores cooking in the realms already visited by our Karangi Dude. I study Doug's dishes, but don't know enough about my oven to go there yet. This book is entertaining me and teaching me something I want to learn at the same time. Its giving me courage to try cooking many things with a live fire, besides pizza. :)

It is exciting that a WFO presents a new realm of cooking options because of the extended temperature range of a conventional home oven. Because my oven isn't finished yet, I can only contemplate how I will need to modify my approach to dishes I currently cook in the house (oven and stovetop). Is it safe to assume 500F in the WFO is the same as the house oven? How is one to adjust for the giant radiant heat (infrared) panel that is the top of the dome? Is this what is responsible for the shortened cooking time of a turkey?

I am all for decreasing the time it takes to put dinner on the table, but not at the expense of flavor/texture. Some dishes simply take time to develop to their fullest potential, something foreign to the world of 30-minute meals and fast food. One of the greatest allures of the WFO, to me, is the long-declining heat curve that allows a minimum of attention when slow-cooking stews, beans, soups, etc.

Here is a short piece that shows probably 25 different kinds of dishes that are prepared in a commercial ceramic oven, albeit a gas one.

....snip....Is it safe to assume 500F in the WFO is the same as the house oven? ...snip...

The author adds 75-100 F to the cooking temperatures recommended in ordinary recipes and reports the cooking time can be expected to be one-third faster. She measures only the oven floor temp. :)

clofgreen

01-24-2012 08:01 PM

Re: Continuous Cooking: 900ºF thru 200ºF?

Thanks all for the informative replies. My oven is still fairly new and I don't have any way of measuring past the $3.99, 550 degree oven thermometer I splurged on so I have a lot to figure out. But I will check out the book and keep on cooking and report my experiences over on "Continued Design Ideas" where I'm documenting my build. I just began a sourdough starter and am anxious to taste real bread.